STG Investigative Report : Illusive Man
by LogicalPremise
Summary: An in-depth STG report about the Illusive Man, Jack Harper. Set just after the Butcher is revealed as Shepard at Ilium in TWCD. Covers history, tactics, and awesomeness. Part of my Mass Effect AU, not canon compliant. Nothing particular ugly in here. Co-authored by Aberron.


_**A/N:** The bulk of this file was written by the incredible **Aberron** who writes **Living an Indoctrinated Dream**. It was also worked on by the Editing Gang. If you have not taken a look at Aberron's work you should do so. **  
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* * *

– STG – STG – STG –

 _STG Report on Jack Harper._

Senior Agent Soril to the STG Master,

As requested, I've put together an initial briefing document covering everything we currently know regarding the being known as the 'Illusive Man.' I do not know why this update was requested, as this is the _two hundred and fifty-fifth iteration of the same Collapse-be-damned file_ , but I suspect the recent events on Ilium and the unveiling of several thought to be dead individuals now linked with Cerberus is the reason.

If so, keep in mind that what we saw on Ilium was probably exactly what Harper planned for us to see. I'd like to apologize in advance if this is less direct than you would prefer, but given gathering this updated information cost us most of five Ops teams, my state of calm is not where I'd prefer it to be.

As with all reports, by necessity, this document is not all-inclusive with details, but instead provides high-order information that can be queried in-depth at a later time.

This file is classified Choram-Green. As a reminder, while Choram-Green files are in of themselves not capable of revealing specific details about sources or methods, the fact that we have obtained any actionable intelligence on Harper will no doubt make further infiltration much harder if this file's existence is known, and for at least two instances the source provides context if not specifics.

Provisionally, this file cannot be taken in without the various sub-annex files: Series GM0-1 through GM0-15 (Suspected Cerberus Activity Profile), ME-A3 (Trellani Annex), and over forty behavioral studies, threat assessments, and other files that have been invalidated over the years, but still retain some value in review. I am aware this makes for some lengthy reading, but there is a good reason for this.

Aside from the Shadow Broker, Jack Harper is the single most dangerous threat to the STG, the SIX, and the Salarian Union. He is also the only human target of note of the League of Zero, who otherwise only focus on the hanar and the Thirty. This should underline and illustrate the danger this man represents.

* * *

 **Caution: Read FIRST:**

As usual, most if not all information on Jack Harper is based on four sources: existing historical accounts and/or records, eyewitness accounts, extranet information, and accumulated scans and examinations. Under no circumstances can this file be assumed complete, and, as always, assume that this file is a baseline of his abilities and resources, not a comprehensive coverage.

Also be aware that some of what we have uncovered may be false, misleading or designed specifically to provoke specific actions or reactions.

Jack Harper is tied into multiple corporate entities, government front, and criminal organizations, most if not all unaware that he is in such a position. The contents of this report may be harmful to organizations and governments that currently benefit from the protection of the STG and Spectre offices. Sharing of this document or revealing classified materials that could reveal the methods of Harper's control could cause rapidly destabilizing impacts to galactic economic concerns. **Unauthorized disclosure of any part of this document by STG assets will result in immediate conversion to Shieldbreaker status.**

We cannot take any unnecessary risks with Cerberus, particularly given the current state of the organization and their access to the VIGIL construct.

It is also assumed that, with his connections to Sara Shepard, Richard Williams, Matriarch Trellani, and possibly some of the Lords of Sol, he is aware of many Alliance state secrets. The danger of Jack Harper is not in direct engagement, but in the damage that will cascade throughout society as a whole.

* * *

 **– STG – STG – STG –**

 **JAMES HARPER**

Overview:

 _Formal Titles:_ Jack Harper, The Illusive Man, Highland PMC (Major)

 _Nicknames:_ TIM, The Elusive Bastard, Old Blue Eyes

 _Race:_ Human (possibly cybernetic)

 _Age and sex:_ 75, Male (verified by sources wide and varied). Unable to find formal birth records.

 _Wealth:_ [ _Unquantified_ ] Finding any details on his personal wealth is difficult. The only financial records that can be found of Jack Harper exist as part of the Chicago Credit Union before its collapse in 2160 and in the Zurich Bank of Switzerland, though local records do not detail what form of currency was stored there or how much was stored. Jack Harper did own a 1.4 by 2-meter box. Pressure sensor logs report that the doors were opened a total of eight times across five years.

Jack Harper owned most of his companies through trusts and distributed holding companies. He was a member of the board of those companies, and the financial records of those companies record his income as a board member or executive being placed into trusts dedicated to the 'betterment of humanity.' It was an open secret that the money was getting back to him somehow.

As one of the leaders of Cerberus, Harper had access to unknown amounts of capital funding. The human practice of allowing nonprofit agencies some leeway in their funding practices continues to bother me. It has taken six months of work to gather just the financial data, and that is with the full compliance of the Systems Alliance government at Arcturus. From this agent's perspective, the only logical conclusion is that while his direct monetary value is seemingly average for an executive, his true monetary value exceeds the value of Elysium (yes, the entire human colony) at best guess. He uses indirect methods of control to use the wealth of others to further his own goals.

 _Psychological Summary:_ Assumed to be in the Intense/Suppressed quadrant of Secretive personalities, at least in his views of the galaxy as a whole. While almost all of his previous actions show the clear signs of Passive/Selfish behavior, his actions at Ilium showed that he is capable of being selfless, based on salarian scales.

Curiously, since Sara Shepard joined Cerberus, his psychological profile has shifted. It remains to be seen how much this will change his actions, but early assessment would indicate a shift more towards Thinker/Healer aspects of Heroic personalities, an… odd and unexpected direction, to be sure.

 _Military Summary:_ Director/Founder of Cerberus. Has considerable military assets at his disposal, including Shepard and whatever forces she may have, and the Odd Couple as likely bodyguards. Not a professional military soldier, although has some military training (see Highland PMC, below, and subfile VM-30949, Collected Incidents File, Harper).

 _Education:_ Multiple graduate degrees. Masters in Business Analysis (Stanford University), Bachelors of Data Analytics (New Chicago Academy of Science), Masters in Cryptography (Phoenix Arcology Academy of Technology; under an alias).

 _Employment:_ Director of Cerberus, aliases on multiple companies, CEO of Cord-Hislop Aerospace. One of the few we can confirm is that he was a member of the boards of Eldfell-Ashland, Tri-cell Energy Solutions of Terra Nova, Nestlé, and Taco Bell Galactic. It is suspected that he is involved with (or in charge of) BenCore Enterprises, Hyperion Foundation, and a number of other front companies that provide Cerberus with income.

 _Significant Family:_ His biological father was not aware of his parentage, and he has not fathered any children that we could confirm. Multiple – likely dozens – of sexual partners throughout his life, almost none of any importance, except for Matriarch Trellani and his late fiancée Eva Coré who, as far as we can ascertain, died on Shanxi during Relay 314 Incident.

 _Overall Threat Rating:_ When engaged in combat directly, assume Red-Collapse-Six. Because of the potential damage that he can cause in conjunction with his organization, rate him as Black-Collapse-Six. Collectively, due to his abilities and connection with elements of Shepard and Trellani, he is rated as _Black-Collapse-Nine,_ even if his personal combat strength is not worthy of that.

* * *

 **Historical Notes:**

Harper has made significant efforts to obfuscate his personal history, so this agent must preface this with a warning: there is more we have not uncovered. The man is nearly salarian in his tradecraft, and in the course of this investigation (just for this iteration, mind you, not the file entire) we lost sixteen Agents and two War Specs.

It is known (at least, what can be known based on existing legal entries in various government documentations) that he completed secondary education. Harper began using aliases to fund illegal activities at this point, while he completed an advanced data analytics degree. He graduated without any fanfare or notice.

His grades in every single course and task were exactly the same. 89.5%. Just enough for a top tier grade, but the fact that every single task was done at this exact level suggests that a message was being sent, or a statement was being made. Either way, this degree was acquired within two years.

He gained a master's degree in Business Analysis, and yet, not a doctorate. His graduate education was accomplished remotely through Stanford University. Any further education was accomplished through experience. Amusingly, Harper completed an entire trade school's worth of courses under an assumed name, earning another graduate degree in cryptology. It is now assumed that his knowledge of encryption and programming is on par with some of humanity's best.

His IQ tests, mandatory in youth, were replaced with mediocre scores some years after his departure from secondary school. However, in talking to the principal of his secondary school, it was discovered that his intelligence and capacity for understanding were 'genius level' and 'without peer.' Obtaining the originals was a daunting exercise in and of itself.

Harper was a member of the Highland PMC during the Relay 314 Incident, an independent military corporation that had close ties to the Williams Family. He held the 'rank' of major, but it was bought with monetary earnings. His actions during this time can be confirmed, unlike much of the rest of this document. He fought on the ground in a few engagements, and when the turian fleet took the Arcturus System, what was left of Highland PMC took control of a turian supply ship and escaped the cordon around Shanxi.

The actions of his band of mercenaries led to the loss of the turian supply base deployed on the other side of Relay 314. The stolen supply ship parked at the station and exploded the munitions compartment, destroying the supply depot. After this raid, Saren Arterius was removed from the front line to investigate the incident. Harper led him on a chase throughout Council Space, surprising for a race that had no contact until that point, ending near Palaven. Whatever occurred there, the turian military has conflicting reports. What can be confirmed is that the turian fleet fired upon Palaven itself, and Desolas Arterius was killed.

Attempts to discover why or how have been 'dissuaded' by the Palavanus. We sought legal authority to access those records, but they are locked to us. Less than legal access has been blocked by overwhelming Blackwatch reaction forces and further investigation is unlikely to succeed.

There is a disturbing blank spot of almost two entire years between the events on Shanxi and the known founding of Cerberus. During this time we can only trace his actions through those of his allies. Known contacts during his time at Highland PMC became less active, most disappearing entirely. Richard Williams was sighted with Jack Harper at a single political fundraising event for his family's 'War Orphan Fundraiser.' Many of these orphanages were later shown to be feeder schools for Cerberus ideology and manpower for their organization. This was the only confirmed sighting of him during these two years.

Jack Harper was the head of Cerberus, and founded the organization with the assistance of Richard Williams and Rachel Florez. There is some speculative evidence that the group was actually created prior to the involvement of Williams and Florez ( _see subfile GR0-1 through GR0-9, AIS Risk Assessment Tasking_ ) but the reach and power of this early organization was minor, and it is likely what acts they may or may not have achieved independently were allowed by the AIS. For all intents and purposes, Cerberus did not become the threat it was held to be later until the participation of Florez and Williams.

Regardless of how it came about, the power he wielded at the time of Cerberus's founding only increased, as through Richard Williams he had at least some access to the Lords of Sol. That period of time is also when Harper made some manner of alliance with House Minsta, through the liaison of Galen Minsta. (See STG intel briefing on Dr. Minsta, dangerous operator in his own right.)

Addendum: While Harper himself did not have any direct contact with High Lords, and any connection would be most carefully baffled by cutouts, it is imperative to note that the contents of this report could be damaging to the government of the Systems Alliance. Agents have not been able to fully confirm Cerberus had links to the SA governance in a fashion that would allow Spectre investigation, but this link is the most likely possibility for such in the near future.

Harper worked for a number of companies, legal and illegal. He presented himself as a covert 'angel investor,' the price of his capital being almost totalitarian control over the many companies' efforts, though he never owned stock directly. Some of these he used as experiments involving corporate culture and human behavior, testing the limits of what civilians would morally accept to maintain their income. Some of the resulting corporate crimes are still being investigated by local governments. In almost every case, this experimentation ended with broken lives and the occasional suicide. It is of note to mention that many of these companies were loosely connected to third tier houses of the Lords of Sol.

The legal side of his dealings were in Cord-Hislop, as well as many companies centered on the colonies. Harper seemed to specifically avoid working with any companies directly connected to the High Lords of Sol, and, curiously, much of his legal dealings were responsible for humanity having a successful economic model after the Relay 314 Incident. This agent has observed connections to different political parties, certain elements of the Neo-Catholic Church that had issues with the Pope, and a few aid foundations.

Many of these connections were created, we now believe, to be direct obfuscations, and it is the opinion of this agent that spending time looking for his direct hand in anything is a waste of time. Trying to find such a thing with thirty-five years of obfuscated records is like chasing a erchus in its home territory.

After the foundation of Cerberus, defining his actions – and delineating between private and public ones – becomes more difficult. The various acts the group undertook were not done in isolation, as all three leaders combined their techniques and specialties to devise elaborate (and effective) counters to many STG, Blackwatch, and Nightwind operations. That being said, unlike the clear military focus of General Florez and her continued work on the Penal Legions, or the somewhat dubious scientific pursuits of Williams, we have only fragmentary proof of what the Illusive Man was up to, aside from using his considerable influence to delve into galactic information networks.

Countering Cerberus activities was difficult, nearly impossible, due to the distributed nature of the various cells, the bewildering number of fronts, cutouts, and other measures designed to prevent penetration, and the cold-blooded use of suicide devices tied to VI monitoring systems for most remote agents that would kill them upon capture. Harper's hand in this was clear, as neither Florez nor Williams had a high opinion of alien intelligence organs, while Harper at the least respected the STG.

In fact, penetration of cells, or even discovering different Cerberus cells, was nearly impossible until Harper released information in regards to their identities and locations, and quietly informed the STG data miners that had been monitoring him for further data. We originally thought that this could have been a bout of insanity, as some humans are somewhat prone to have, but we acted on the information after testing its veracity.

In retrospect, it is clear that Harper decided to eliminate Rachel Florez and Richard Williams, along with any other traces of AIS involvement in Cerberus. What is not clear is why, but the timing of the events and other evidence suggests that Cerberus's cooperation with Saren could not be allowed to continue. Harper's release of information, coupled with an immediate decapitation strike of opportunity (using Spectre Shepard), indicates a dramatic flair to the man's otherwise understated and subtle actions. The fact that this occurred contemporaneously with the planned Spectre-directed assault on Cerberus's works raises the vastly disturbing question of how exactly Harper managed to achieve such exquisite timing for his betrayal.

If Harper has Spectre assets on his payroll somehow, then this file should be flagged Salarais-White immediately. I have red-flagged this for League of Zero investigation, if approved.

Of particular note, the use of a flash-clone and suicide note was a clever piece of misdirection that played on the human propensity for constructing simplistic stories from minimal data.

Since this event, Harper has apparently removed the extremist elements of Cerberus. The actions of the organization since then have been focused on major external threats to humanity, such as the Reapers, and on countering espionage efforts. Despite Harper's sensible countering of assets deployed against Cerberus or himself, often tracking back to the source and neutralizing it, no overt actions have been taken against the Citadel government or its members.

Harper has, for whatever personal reason, resurrected Sara Shepard, using technologies which were acquired from unknown sources. (VIGIL is a possibility.)

So far we have not been able to confirm whenever they were designed by humans or other races. Curiously, or ominously, depending on the ramifications, our attempts at analysis of the fragmentary scans of Shepard revealed almost nothing of use. Whatever the source of these technologies, it must have been sourced in human companies, but we have run into a swamp of double-blind shell companies, obfuscated or destroyed records, and over sixty dead researchers who all had 'accidents' or 'committed suicide' after going mysteriously missing in the two years prior to Shepard's return.

You will pardon my incredulous doubt that this is _coincidental_.

Harper has been exposed to too many sources of secrets to quantify where all of the technology came from. He himself has been confirmed to have some cybernetics. The only ones we can confirm are his eyes, yet we have no history of any medical professional having operated on him. Our team surmises that Harper could easily have concealed the records for any such surgical procedures. The one partial scan we have of him (obtained by sheer luck at a customs checkpoint when he was fleeing Alliance Space with who we know now was Matriarch Trellani) was inconclusive, as his clothing had a thin lead lining and an EM jamming device.

The eye cybernetics showed some similarity to – very curiously – noted cybernetic adaptations seen on Spectre Saren Arterius. The source of these implants is equally uncertain.

This item has been black-flagged for immediate review.

As for his current operations, we are in a wait and see phase for the moment. The newer brand of Cerberus seems to be dedicated to the war against the Reapers, with little or no other concerns. Harper has outright ignored opportunities to take advantage of Binary Helix, a group that in the past he has taken advantage of every single time. Possible profits and chances to damage turian supply lines have been ignored by Harper. It is a break in his psychological profile and his normal habits.

Attempts to data mine his servers that we have gained access to have been thwarted. Even elements of these servers sent to Sur'Kesh have resisted attempts to access them so far. VIGIL seems to be responsible for this. This evaluation is based on the complete annihilation of an unshackled AI within eleven picoseconds after insertion to recover data.

Whatever Harper has been doing, it is quite different from his previously subtle yet patternable methods.

* * *

 **Motivations:**

I would like to record a personal statement before discussing this. Jack Harper is a polymorphic personality who has reinvented himself several times. While his motivations seem straightforward and clear, the fact that nothing else in the man's life follows such an easy pattern makes me highly suspicious.

Ostensibly, and clearly delineated in the Cerberus Manifesto, Harper's manifest goal is the protection and survival of humanity, in such a fashion that it can engage galactic society on parity with the salarians, asari, and turians instead of in military subjugation or as a client state.

His primary motives stem from the distressing events he underwent during the Relay 314 Incident and, in some part, to the normal actions conducted towards humanity by various shadow operations groups to maintain the status quo. Given that Harper does not appear to be aware of the higher-level maneuverings of the High Lords, nor the workings of Alliance R&D's Projects Dagon and Ahaltocob, it may be that he believes the humans are under some level of mortal threat.

Secondary motives are murky at best. We know he has some connection to Trellani, but the depth of such and to what level it has altered or augmented his own plans is only guesswork. Harper has no known family, no evidence of having any real connections to the Systems Alliance as a normal citizen now that his true identity is known, and a stated dislike for being in the limelight. It is unlikely he will seek much beyond ensuring his own personal safety and security if he can continue to pursue his primary motive in peace.

* * *

 **Organizations and Affiliations:**

Due to the amount of work Harper has put into making sure every part of his history is a confused and difficult to decipher mess, he may be part of other organizations that we know nothing about. We can only confirm that he is the Director and founder of Cerberus, and that his actions are behind every small move that is made by members of the organization.

There is some minor (mostly speculative and conjectural) evidence that Harper may have some connection to the terrorist network known as the Hand of Hades, although our current belief that this network is directed by elements fronting for the Lords of Sol makes this unlikely at best. Hades' use of several tactics and concepts pioneered by Harper in Cerberus makes this a possibility, though survival of Cerberus elements who then became part of Hades may also account for the observations.

* * *

 **Tactics:**

Harper is a person who typically disdains physical combat. From some reports, we feel it is very likely that he sees engaging in such as below him. That being said, records on Shanxi indicate that he is not a helpless civilian.

Despite what he may or may not be capable of, very few beings who have underestimated Harper remain alive. Assume he is misleading us about his true level of combat capability and plan for the worst.

 _Specific Tactical Methods, Ground Combat:_

 _Long-range :_ Based on what we know, Harper is not fond of sniper tactics, preferring to deploy preplanned traps, explosives, and misdirection. Agents closing in on his location should expect heavy use of defensive mechs and traps, combined with any number of chemical or biological agents. Harper almost never exposes himself to such tactics – when we examined his offices in Denver on Earth, his office windows were made from reinforced armored glass with cruiser-strength kinetic barriers behind them that would have been impenetrable to BRKR shots.

 _Medium-range :_ Harper will most likely be forced to take a hand directly. Based on fragmentary evidence on Shanxi, Harper prefers the use of light infantry rifles and overlapping fire lanes. If engaged solo, expect delaying fire and suppressive tactics to control range while he calls for backup. Harper's mobility is currently unknown, but it is unlikely that he has significant cybernetic enhancement of military purpose.

 _Short-range :_ At short-range, Harper will engage with super-heavy pistol fire. It is at this range his danger elevates from 'trained civilian' to lethal threat, as video of combat (turian recovered armor cams, series 440x-D through E) shows him capable of engaging multiple opponents and killing them with headshots in the span of barely two seconds, with pinpoint accuracy and (somehow) the ability to see through an engaged camo-cloak.

Captured Cerberus personnel that we were able to interrogate without them engaging in their version of Protocol Nineteen were extremely rare, but we did manage to do it once. While the bulk of the information we obtained was either invalidated by immediate Cerberus reaction or nonessential, two snippets of information on Harper apply. First, he is believed to practice regularly with pistols at Cerberus facilities, and second, he is apparently a pistol collector and enthusiast with a large collection of rare or custom-made handguns.

 _Warning Advisory :_ The problem is not Harper's combat ability. If we are ever in a position where he is forced to defend himself solo, the application of a single 'accidental' orbital bombardment would solve the issue handily. The problem is that engaging Harper is likely to involve combat with the Odd Couple, perhaps Matriarch Trellani, and, quite possibly, Sara Shepard…

Singularly, any of those four are a mortal threat. Combined, there aren't enough breeding contracts on all of Sur'Kesh to convince me to take that fight. Recommend application of Protocol Sixty-Five (immediate combined War Spec and Shieldbreaker drop) to nullify the threat presented, although I would still argue that a good orbital bombardment would be the more prudent action even at risk of censure from the Council.

* * *

 **Physical Abilities:**

Jack Harper is not someone who engages in actual combat often.

Though this report seems to (in certain ways) underestimate his physical threat capacity, it has been more than twenty years since he was documented in a field action. It is safe to assume that his tactics and capacity for violence are more than what we have documented. Jack Harper also had a hand in the training of soldiers in Rachel Florez's Penal Legions, via various PMC offerings that worked with the Legions, although, in what capacity is unknown.

With Richard Williams and Rachel Florez, as well as Cerberus, it can safely be assumed that Harper has planned for anything up to and including local nuclear strikes to remove his existence. Although he is listed as a baseline human, never assume that this is a limitation.

His cybernetics are assumed to be wired into his cerebellum and frontal lobes. As they are connected to the eyes, it is safe to assume they are connected to the occipital lobe. There are no cybernetics on the market available to humans (or, for that matter, asari) that allow this level of synchronization between different parts of the brain.

Our reasoning for this is from a lack of research into the effects of such cybernetics, but it cannot be overstated that the cybernetic eyes are not replacements, but integrated into the actual, original eyes. This is not a capability demonstrated by any market or even omega-grade cybernetic labs in the whole Citadel Space, and the fact that the same augments were noted on Saren Arterius is, as I said, black-flagged for follow-up investigation.

Based on fragmentary video and debriefs with female humans that engaged with Harper during his years of wide-ranging sexual partners, he is in good physical condition for his age and appears to be much younger than he actually is.

* * *

 **Mental and Psychological Notes:**

On a purely mental level, Harper is as close to a salarian as humans can get in many ways. Our recovery of his original IQ tests show him to have an IQ of 174 on the human/asari scale, clear genius. (Obviously, Harper did not take the turian equivalent, as this testing was done prior to the Relay 314 Incident).

As stated earlier, Harper falls into the Intense/Suppressed quadrant of Secretive personalities, the most common (approximately 65%) personality type within the ranks of the STG. Like all I/S archetypes, his mentality is organized around achieving personal goals and a laser-like focus on short to medium-range plans. Also like most I/S types, his personal feelings, emotions, and even expressive tastes and pursuits are kept hidden. He is a multi-linear thinker with an admirable ability to compartmentalize emotions from decisions and an extremely original thinker who delights in not only acting 'outside the box,' but often throwing the box away.

Exhibit A: Who in the Collapse comes up with a plan to _resurrect dead people?_

Where Harper varies from the I/S model is that his ultimate goals are not selfish or passive, but are aggressively active and focused on the good of humanity as a gestalt, even at the cost to individuals. PsyProf and the XenoPsy teams from the Reach Research Institute insist that this behavior is anomalous. Current theories are that – perhaps before Shanxi and the death of his family and mate – his psych profile was far closer to the Defender quadrant of Combative personalities.

Massive alterations in worldview, resulting from such an extreme shift in how one looks at the world around them, are not usually accompanied by mental stability or rational goal setting. I would actually suggest that attempts at psychological warfare be abandoned. The last thing we need is an operator as dangerous as the Illusive Man slipping into the Destructive or Villainous quadrants.

In other mental areas, he is also a foe to be taken with the utmost diligence. Jack Harper has been a dangerous strategist from the beginning of his career. He has no fear of reprisal, and no concern for collateral damage. His goals and intentions matter above any other concerns, and this has been shown. Roughly a third of human biotics were engineered through accidents that occurred because of Cerberus's actions. Lacking any of the three founders, we are unable to attribute the specific origin of the sabotage orders, but it is very likely Harper was responsible.

Harper is ruthless. If he believes that someone is a hindrance to his plans, they will be removed. There are over fifty-six unsolved murders on the Alliance Criminal Database that have connections to Cerberus that he would have benefited from – we can only suspect some of those victims as being his.

Our initial reports suggested Harper to be a man with an ideology, and an ego attached directly to the furthering of that ideology. Anything that could give humans an edge was taken advantage of. Anything that he seemingly decided could benefit humankind was ripped and torn from the other races. When challenged, he met force with crippling assault. His ego was attached to the success of his tasks, and he answered any threat with overwhelming response. Lacking any specific targets to seek reprisal, most of the time this left him with success. If he paid a price in manpower it did not bother him.

Until Ilium, we perceived that he had no respect for allies or employees. If doing so benefitted his goals, allies and employees were considered expendable. We assumed this was the mental state of Harper until the dissolution of Cerberus and the resurrection of Shepard. When Harper released his intelligence on Cerberus and outed his allies, it was initially assumed to be a power play within Cerberus.

After Ilium this was proven to be false. Harper's goals are clear. Survival at any cost, against an enemy that demands such. His actions against the Collectors and the agents of Saren and Benezia were clear signs of his focus on this. He sacrificed his organization in near totality to achieve that goal. He had the option to sacrifice his allies to further this cause at Ilium, but he did not. The altruism and loyalty he acted upon there were a complete opposite to his already established mentality, and demanded that this element of the STG examine his actions in a new light.

Our conclusion is that while Jack Harper has ruthless tendencies, his actions and mental state has been one dedicated to the survival of his race, with all other races being tangentially meant to survive, if only to keep the Reapers from having more ground troops. As kindly as this portrays other species, it is an indication of his commitment to success. His ego is now tied to the survival of the galaxy, and he is likely to take any action to stop the Reapers.

* * *

 **Notable Allies:**

Henry Lawson, the CEO of Lawson Technologies.

Former Stellarch Trellani.

Some level of connection to House Minsta, given that Doctor Galen Minsta is believed to be a full Cerberus member along with his daughter now.

Yes, this is a short section. We are, I am afraid, unsure of what other connections the Illusive Man may or may not have. Harper is not an amateur when it comes to his tradecraft, he often uses cutouts and third-parties to make his relationships known, and the fact it took us more than a decade to realize he had some level of connection with House Minsta is both embarrassing and terrifying.

It is entirely possible he has connections to other Houses, contacts within the AIS or other human organizations, and the fact that his new iteration of Cerberus has a large contingent of aliens raises the ugly specter of him having agents in alien shadow ops groups.

There is also the question of just what any alliance or relationship truly means to the Illusive Man, given his polymorphic personality, murky history, and the paucity of reliable or quantifiable data on his true motivations or character. Even by the (shockingly low and poorly designed, as usual) standards of human psychological research and personality profiling he is abnormal and perhaps impossible to truly model or predict, so I must question how practical or effective it is for our field agents if we in turn try to shunt him into salarian psychological frameworks for the purpose of predictive analysis at a distance. We simply cannot claim any definite insight into his mind; we can only infer and deduce from his actions.

* * *

 **Political and Social Notes:**

Harper supports any political affiliation that assists in his ideology. Blue Stars No More, Northstar (before its collapse), and Terra Firma have all been supported by him, although he only has tangential connection to the party leaders. He is willing to support groups of varied political alignment in the other races if they suit his needs. He will cast those same groups away the moment that it suits him, although often he simply leaves them without funding or the support system he created. Many groups are able to overcome the difficulties involved in covering the loss of support.

Harper is (or was, until his outing as the Illusive Man) extremely sexually active. Most of our quantifiable data has come from interviews with the subjects of his sexual couplings. They are limited to humans, so far. It is suspected that Harper has also been sexually active with asari, but the only asari we can suspect this with is Matriarch Trellani. We do not consider this a risk of resources and lives to obtain the details of, especially since his faked death he has not been seen interacting in public at all.

From the interviews conducted, Harper is socially graceful and capable of speaking all dialects of the turian language, as well as batarian, both Low and High Asaric, and salarian. He is also known to be at least competent at reading and writing in four salarian tech-cants. His inflections in each are lacking any foreign accents. Assume that any basis of encryption of each of the languages will be possible for Harper to break.

* * *

 **– STG – STG – STG –**

 **Warnings:**

 **The following advisories are considered mandatory reading**.

 **Direct military action is contraindicated without firm intelligence on location, escape routes, and forces on hand:** While we can argue the necessity of letting Harper live due to his actions to oppose the Reapers, I'm fully aware some portions of the STG as well as the Solus Family would love to have Harper killed. Unfortunately, as I said before, Harper reacts to threats in a direct manner and we simply cannot afford an assassination attempt that he can survive. Given the paucity of hard data on him (including such trifling things as his location, what he even looks like now, or exactly what sort of bodyguards he may or may not have) I cannot recommend taking direct action without a triggering event such as a threat to the SIX or the Union.

 **Harper can and will sacrifice the Salarian Union to preserve his own race and the galaxy (in that order):** It is this agent's specific recommendation that the STG approach Harper indirectly. In the case where Reaper forces or enemies of the Salarian Union are involved, collaboration is advised. This will never endear us or make us indispensable to his plans, but it has been shown that he is willing to work with us in the past. He may be able to consider us allies of convenience in the future. In the event that the Reapers will destroy the humans first, take any and all actions to kill Harper. Preventing the damage he could cause is paramount, in that circumstance.

* * *

An additional STG standing Protocol is also in effect:

 _PROTOCOL SEVENTY EIGHT:_

 **No teams with any data connected to other projects or subjects are allowed to perform surveillance upon Harper or Cerberus.** The Inusannon AI VIGIL is capable of remotely hacking into internal networks through omni-tool foundry obfuscation and production. Take the highest of precautions when approaching Cerberus assets or contacts, as Harper can and will destroy any STG elements that he feels are threatening his operations. Protocol Nineteen (detonation of ocular flashbangs and wipe of graybox attachments) is authorized whenever interacting with Cerberus on any level, as we have no idea the limits of Vigil's range.


End file.
